Since the mid-1960's, a crucial area of concern in social programs is achieving effective consumer participation in the governance of health agencies. In comparison to provider board members, consumers have significantly less influence in the board's decision-making processes resulting in a loss of potential consumer input. In seeking to increase their influence so that their service needs may be addressed, consumers may be compelled to employ a variety of tactics, including militancy. The primary objective of this proposal is to identify certain major determinants of consumer influence on policy-making boards within and including both collaborative and competitive modes of decision-making. The variable categories to be examined are: (1) aspects of the board's internal organization and functioning under conditions of funding and legal requirements, (2) perceptions by consumers of the board's resource conditions, (3) consumer strategies or action modes for attaining influence, and (4) consumer influence. Consumer influence will be determined by weighting the results of a sociometric factor analysis of intra-board subgroupings and a decisional analysis of key board issues. Hypothesized associations between variables will be tested using multiple regression and path analyses. Qualitative data on modes for influence by consumers will be analyzed by typology construction. The study sample of 15 Community Health Center board members will permit examination of the situation frequently more inhibiting of consumer influence and promotive of competitive intra-board relationships: when consumers of services participate as nominal equals with providers as policy-makers for those services.